Multi-domain network topologies may be characteristic of systems-of-systems architectures where not all nodes in the system share the same communication capability and therefore cannot exchange information directly. In such a multi-domain network, nodes also may not have knowledge of the topology of other domains and therefore cannot plan how to route a message to a remote node. Gateway nodes, therefore, may be required to reach remote network domains.
High fidelity network simulation packages may have been available to study network utilization issues. Such high fidelity simulation packages may generally focus on protocol level detail, physical layer characteristics or network emulation. Less sophisticated network modeling approaches may be available that also model a network at a high level, but which may require extensive manual specification of message routing and behavior. The existing higher fidelity solutions may experience relatively longer runtimes as scenario size increases. Increased simulation runtimes and scenario set-up times may be a burden during early concept development stages of network solution development when there are many uncertainties, and few details that support high fidelity modeling. The higher fidelity approaches may require protocol level detail. The simpler modeling approaches may be relatively inflexible, relatively non-scalable, and may require time-consuming manual user set-up for route and gateway selection.
There is a need for a system, model and method for evaluating a communication network that may provide flexibility, straightforward characterization of the network, and automated message route selection in the simulation.